ESSENTIAL OILS


No, i'm not  talking about the oil that you use to make the room smell good, but the kind of oil that I use to make my food taste good! Nothing beats the taste of pork lard in your Hokkien Mee. Same goes for most other chinese noodle dishes. In fact, most chinese dishes are, to me, incomplete without a dash of pork lard thrown in to bring up the extra flavour. I usually whip up a batch of pork lard oil to add flavour to whatever I cook. Some people say it's unhealthy, but oils rendered from animal fats have more of the healthy fats than the unhealthy ones. Read http://fearlesseating.net/seven-reasons-why-you-should-eat-lard/ and you will get the picture. Although it's not easy to get the specified type of pork lard, six reasons out of the seven is good enough for me ;-)

From left to right.... fried anchovies, garlic, 

pork fat and the oil

This is what i usually have stashed away in my kitchen. I would whip up a batch and use them sparingly, after all, it's all about moderation here. Usually, maybe once a month, i will head to the supermarket to get some pork lard, ikan bilis and garlic to make this wonderful oil. It brings a wonderful flavour to most of the things I cook, it's easy to make and when kept dry, it stores pretty well too!

1. 1kg pork fat, cut into cubes

2. 500g chopped garlic

3. 200g dried anchovies

4. a splash of olive oil

On medium heat, put the pork fat and olive oil in a pan

Cook the pork fat until golden brown

Remove the pork fat, put in the dried anchovies and cook to golden brown

Remove the fried anchovies, put in the chopped garlic and cook to golden brown

After you remove each of the ingredients, make sure to put them on kitchen paper towels to soak up all the excess oil before storing them. That way they will remain crunchy for a longer time.

This oil is now good for almost any kind of cooking. Enjoy!